Thames Valley: Drink Drive Figures

Heart's found out just one in four drivers - arrested for drink driving over Christmas in the Thames Valley - were women.

However, latest figures show 9% more women were caught compared to last year.

The number of people caught drink driving also fell this Christmas compared to last year.

Between 1 December 2012 and 1 January 2013, 278 drivers were arrested for driving with excess alcohol, compared to 299 in the same period in 2011.

Of those arrested, 74 per cent were men and 26 per cent were women. The number of men caught for drink drive has fallen by 11 per cent (218 this year compared to 244 in the previous year).

A/Supt Henry Parsons, Head of Road Policing for Thames Valley and Hampshire said:

"It's really encouraging that we have seen a decrease in the number of people arrested for drink driving this year, however it is still disappointing to see that there are still people are still prepared to take that risk.

"During the campaign period, the Force has seen a three per cent reduction in road traffic collisions and a 15 per cent reduction in incidents with road-related traffic offences such as drink driving.

"This year, we also focused on those who drive the morning after a night out and the figures also show that many of those who were caught had not allowed themselves enough time to recover after a heavy night”.

During this year's campaign, 9.3 per cent of people arrested for drink driving were driving the morning after a night out, compared with 8.4 per cent last year.

Out of the 278 drivers who failed the test approximately six per cent were three times over the legal drink drive limit.

Despite a reduction in the number of tests (6585 compared with 7720 last year), there was a 9% increase in female drivers arrested after failing the breath test, compared to last year.

A/Supt Parsons continued: "Although our drink drive campaign finished on 1 January, we focus on arresting drink drivers 365 days a year. Our message is that if you drink and drive, we will be looking to arrest you and put you before the courts. If you’ve been drinking, don’t drive. It’s too dangerous and not worth the risk."

The highest recorded reading was 168 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, from a 33-year-old man from Banbury. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes. He was charged with the offence of driving while unfit through drink and bailed to attend Banbury Magistrates Court on Wednesday 16th January.